Estudiantes 0 – 0 River Plate
By: Christian | March 9th, 2008River and Estudiantes played to an intense but ultimately disappointing 0-0 draw tonight in the Argentine Clausura, with los millonarios missing an opportunity to climb higher in the league table.
Despite a raucous atmosphere at the Ciudad de La Plata stadium, enhanced by the return of Diego Simone to the team he took the glory 2 years ago, neither side was able to pull ahead. Estudiantes had the far more impressive first half, nearly scoring within the first minute, and having far too many opportunities at set-pieces gifted by River.
The second half saw a slightly more even battle with the inclusion of Augusto Fernández, but despite a few chances, and again, far too many set pieces conceded by River, players began to tire, and by the end it was clear that both sides were playing for the draw.
With Boca and Independiente drawing 1-1 earlier in the day, River missed an opportunity to gain some ground on the competition. One of the biggest disappointments was the performance of “El Loco” Abreu, who spent much of the evening fighting with the referees and inventing non-existent fouls than going after the ball. Gustavo Cabral received a red card after a second clumsy challenge in the 80th minute, not long after needlessly handing Estudiantes a corner when his pass back to Carrizo went wide, and will miss the next Clausura tie against Racing.
Added to the poor result, captain Ariel Ortega had to be taken off the field by stretcher in the 81st minute after a knock to the head ended his night on the pitch. If there was any bright spot, it was the performance of Carrizo in goal, and for me, Danilo Gerlo, playing on the wing.
Next up for la banda, a difficult game away in Santiago, Chile in Copa Libertadores.
On a side note, a hostile reception greeted Diego Simeone as he entered the field, a sign of the intense resentment Estudiantes fans still carry from his decision to join River. While they are free to do as they like, I thought it was a classless and ungrateful way to greet the man that brought them a championship, and helped make Estudiantes into the force they are now both at home and abroad.
River Plate
Juan Pablo Carrizo
Danilo Gerlo, Gustavo Cabral, Eduardo Tuzzio, Cristian Villagra
Oscar Ahumada, Matias Abelairas (Augusto Fernández, 45th)
Alexis Sánchez (Diego Buonanotte, 72nd), Radamel Falcao, Ariel Ortega (Paulo Ferrari, 81st)
Sebastián Abreu
Category: 08 Clausura
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